The All Progressives Congress has written to the Federal High Court in Abuja to argue that an order for substituted service granted against President Bola Tinubu in the suit filed by Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress challenging his eligibility for the 2027 election was needless.
The party insisted that the President’s lawyers had already filed and served his defence before the order was made.
In a letter dated September 22, 2026, and addressed to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court for the attention of the Registrar of Court 6 presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the party said it only learnt of the order “through the media propaganda embarked on by the plaintiffs immediately after the order was made.”
It stressed that the plaintiffs “have not served any Enrolled Order on the APC up to this moment.”
The letter, signed by the party’s National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, and made available to our correspondent on Tuesday, was written in respect of Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1888/2026.
Atiku and the ADC are seeking to disqualify Tinubu and the APC from the 2027 presidential race, principally over a discrepancy between the name on a National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission and the president’s official name.
The order being contested by the APC was made on September 16, 2026, permitting the plaintiffs to serve court processes on the President through the party’s national secretariat, after his direct service had proved difficult.
According to the party, while it respects all courts in the country, inclusive of all orders made by them, it also felt “under a duty to bring it to the attention of the court when its processes are being abusively employed to harass the public and/or any of our members, particularly, the leader of our party, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.”
Basiru, in a six-point chronology, laid out what he said were the facts of how the case had progressed.
According to him, the suit was filed against Tinubu, the party and INEC as first, second and third defendants sometime in August 2026, following which Atiku “addressed the press after filing the action and informed the general public that he personally went to the registry of the court to depose to the supporting affidavit.”
The party said that although the plaintiffs served the second and third defendants, they, “for reasons best known to them, refused or failed to serve the first defendant,” Tinubu.
They added that the President had briefed a legal team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) to represent his interests, as soon as he learnt of the suit through media reports.
Narrating the sequence of court appearances, the APC said the matter came up on the cause list on September 1, 2026, when one of Tinubu’s lawyers, Omosanya Popoola (SAN), informed the court of his readiness to accept service on the President’s behalf, having been so instructed.
